Communication networks, such as mobile communication networks have increased in popularity for using a wide variety of services. These networks are then often operated by an operator and include a number of nodes cooperating for rendering the services to users of the network.
Some nodes in a mobile communication network that are involved in such service rendering are Online Charging System (OCS) node, Policy Control Rule Function (PCRF) node and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), where GPRS is an acronym for General Packet Radio Service. A GGSN node may here also comprise a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF). Another node that may exist in the system is a Mobile Switching Centre (MSC).
The nodes PCRF, GGSN (including PCEF) and OCS are mainly responsible for rendering and charging end user data services. When a user of the communication network tries to access the Internet or another data service as provided by the operator, GGSN establishes one policy and one charging session with PCRF and OCS, respectively. PCEF in-turn gets the required information of the user from OCS. Similar functions exist for traditional voice services, where an MSC interacts with OCS for reservations and charging of accounts based on service usage.
OCS allows a telecommunication service provider to charge its customers in real time based on service usage. The functions within the OCS include both event and session based charging for various services like voice, data etc. The OCS receives traffic from different core network elements (like PCRF, GGSN, MSC etc.) to charge for the service usage at real-time.
In operator networks though, the network capacity is rightly dimensioned in most cases, so the capacity will not be surplus in general. The network capacity is generally dimensioned by estimating peak traffic (during peak hours) generated by network users during a normal day (excluding festive days). However provisioning (and de-provisioning) of new users into a network is a daily routine (especially in emerging markets where subscriber acquisition is still a big thing) and in general network elements are not expanded that often. Hence, it is possible that during peak hours some of the network elements involved in the chain of service-rendering may enter into overload situations, causing rejection of traffic.
Requests for communication in the case of congestion in a network element can be denied by many of these nodes, for instance by OSC, PCRF and GGSN. Furthermore, the users of the network may not be equal. Some may be more important than others for a variety of reasons. In the case of congestion, there is today no way to differentiate between different users based on importance.
OCS does for instance handle traffic based only on the rate plans or products associated to a user. There is thus no consideration of how important the user may be in the network. There is no prioritization being made with respect to the user.
Today OCS has no intelligence to take into account a user-priority when making a decision. Especially during congestion, general load regulation/congestion control mechanisms cater for rejecting a percentage of traffic or a particular type of traffic till load comes down to a decent level. There could therefore be transactions/sessions related to users deemed to be important that will be rejected during this period.
Hence, during traffic congestion, there always exists a possibility that a low-value user is served over a highly valued user.
A first type of highly valued user may be a user that is economically important to the operator. It may be a user that has a high usage rate and/or a high billing rate. It may also be a user that is loyal or is influential, where an influential user may have a high number of followers in social networks. A second type of highly valued user may be a user involved in important work in society, such as a doctor, an ambulance driver or a fireman.
If a highly valued user of the first type gets rejected, this user may have a negative user experience, which may lead to decreased loyalty and a high churn rate in the network causing a loss in revenue for the service provider. A highly valued user of the second type may also churn; however, this user may also be unable to communicate vital information at a time when this is important. This may in turn be dangerous, depending on the situation that the user is involved in.
Therefore, there is a need for allowing prioritization between users in a communication network, where one or more network elements are experiencing congestion.